UK economic composition: agriculture: 1.4%; industry: 18.2%; services: 80.4% (2006 est.)
That needs to be significantly improved upon, the adage "all your eggs in one basket" comes to mind. It leaves us in an over exposed position.
France: agriculture (2.1%), industry (19%), services (78.9%)
US: agriculture: (1.2%), industry: (21.9%), services: (76.9%)
Germany:agriculture: 0.8%; industry: 27.9%; services: 71,3%
Japan: agriculture: 4%, industry: 28%, services: 68%
China: industry (46.8%), services (43.6%), agriculture (9.6%)
Our service industry is a little higher than a selection of the other big players but not massively so. The only big difference is that of China but I hope you're not suggesting we become more like their economy... Either way the putting all your eggs in one basket would imply that we provided just one service, which we don't.
There's also an interesting bit in the PWC report
The UK manufacturing and engineering sector needs to survive, not only because it is important in its own right, but because it supports so many businesses in the services sector. Indeed, the distinction between ‘manufacturers’ and ‘service providers’ is becoming increasingly blurred, as products and services are increasingly bundled to together to provide differentiated value-added solutions. If manufacturing disappears, we believe a large element of the service sector would also be at risk.
Essentially a lot of UK companies provide a bundled solution (for better or for worse some might say), something that shows services are easily exportable. A couple of examples of this are companies like Haliburton and Schlumberger (yes, not British companies) who have spent a lot of money in recent times to get to a point where they provide "complete solutions" to companies that want their equipment or their service.
